It is often advantageous to grow and cultivate plants in containers rather than directly in the ground, since containers allow greater control over the planting medium, and are less likely to be exposed to parasites and weeds due to the separation of the planting medium in the container from the ground soil. Containers also allow plants to be moved indoors during inclement weather. However, traditional planters, which typically consist of a hard-sided plastic or ceramic pot having a drainage hole or holes at the bottom, have several drawbacks. For instance, the hard-sided pot may not allow an optimal level of oxygen to reach the roots because the surface area of the potting soil is being put up against a hard, non-breathable surface such as ceramic or plastic, thereby lowering the growth potential of the plants. In addition, overwatering can occur due to lack of drainage if the drainage holes do not drain quickly enough. Finally, the plants become root-bound very quickly with traditional planters because of the solid wall pot, especially if the pots are not large enough, where the roots are circled and entangled in the planting medium and the future growth of the plant is limited.
Some of the problems associated with traditional planters are overcome by fabric planters having porous sides and bottoms that allow oxygen to reach, and water to drain away from, the roots of the plants. This allows the root tips to dehydrate, forcing the root tips to branch out and become more productive. However, because such design increases the transpiration of the planting medium, water tends to evaporate from the airy, porous fabric quicker which heightens plant metabolism, causing plants to drink more water. Thus, the plants being grown in fabric planters are prone to be underwatered because of their porous fabric.
Attempts have been made to combine the features of traditional and fabric planters by providing ceramic or plastic pots with fabric liners. However, the drainage and oxygenation in most of these hybrid systems is still inadequate because ultimately planting medium is pressed up against the hard surface of the pot without a method of providing more oxygen to the root zone, thus a new design for the pot is required to overcome this shortcoming. Furthermore, the roots of the plants eventually grow through the fabric liners and may spiral, twist, kink, or become strangled in the bottom of the pot. Combined with water tabling, where plant's roots mass sit in water that has tabled upwards because of inadequate drainage, this can choke the plant when so much of the root mass is under water.
Another issue associated with planting systems is irrigation. Some planters position a reservoir of water in direct contact with the planting medium, and rely on capillary action to draw the water upwardly into the medium, which is also known as wicking system. A problem with this type of a system is that the lower part of the planting medium is always wet. Since the lower roots specialize in feeding, the constant excess moisture can slow growth and cause root disease. Other planters use drip systems, in which a dripper is implanted in or suspended over the planting medium. The dripper may be in the form of a ring having a number of drip holes formed along its lower surface. However, conventional drip rings do not distribute water through the planting medium in an optimum fashion, where the surface of the planting medium is not evenly saturated leaving web and very dry zones.
The above problems are addressed by this disclosure as summarized below.